1. Field of the Invention
The field of the present invention is griddle cooking systems, particularly those that are designed for use in connection with mobile kitchens, such as those depended upon by the military and humanitarian relief organizations.
2. Background
The cooking surface of a griddle is preferably maintained at a uniform predetermined temperature over the entire surface for food preparation. One or more heating elements are typically positioned underneath the cooking surface to heat the cooking surface. If more than one heating element is used, because each individual heating element heats a limited area of the cooking surface, undesirable hotter and colder zones may develop on the cooking surface. Multiple heating elements can therefore make it difficult to maintain a substantially uniform temperature over the entire cooking surface.
Single element heating elements have thus been developed in an attempt to reduce the temperature variance over the cooking surface. Such heating elements are typically serpentine in form so that the heating element can be distributed under substantially the entire cooking surface, thus also creating a better distribution of heat across the entire cooking surface. However, despite the better distribution of heat across the cooking surface, even serpentine heating elements can leave hot and cold spots. These temperature variances can develop over time as the heating element ages and sections of the serpentine structure become less efficient at generating heat. For electric-based heating elements, this can occur due to structural changes within parts of the heating element due to repeated heating and cooling. In gas-based heating elements due to the accumulation of debris causing blockages in the fuel distribution passageways.